


Sorry That I Hurt You

by Pen_to_parchment



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Apologies, F/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Song: Afterglow (Taylor Swift), Songfic, jeyna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24200581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pen_to_parchment/pseuds/Pen_to_parchment
Summary: We all know the story of what happened after the War with Gaea. Jason stayed at Camp Half-Blood, and Reyna and the Legion returned to Camp Jupiter without a real goodbye. But what if that weren’t the case?[edited]On a normal day, Jason would wrap his arms around her waist, and Reyna would settle back into him, and they would watch the sunrise together. The battlefield in front of him reminds him that today is not a normal day.
Relationships: Jason Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	Sorry That I Hurt You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the first work in a series of songfics I have lined up for our favorite Praetors (no shade to Frank and Hazel). This is written with inspiration drawn from Taylor Swift’s “Afterglow”. Obviously, you DO NOT need to know the song to be able to read this. Settings and subtle nods in dialogue are the only real allusions to the song. So here's a fix-it fic! Gods know there's lots to fix...

It’s barely light when Jason makes the decision to seek her out. Despite everything that happened between them, he likes to think that he still knows where Reyna will be. So he steps into the somber light of early morning. 

Yesterday, they had celebrated victory. They had raised their glasses around the hearth in the name of friendship. Thanks were given to Tyche and Fortuna alike. Today, however, loss hangs like a fog over both the Greek and Roman encampments. Plumes of smoke rise throughout the fields, streaks of grey against the sunrise. Funeral pyres had been blazing throughout the night. His trek to the outskirts of Camp Half-Blood is a slow one, it feels wrong to him to speed over the blood-permeated soil and ravaged terrain. Jason scans the barren battlefield before him, for once resenting the glasses that force him to see it all in solemn clarity. Smoke from the onagers still hangs thick in the air, mixing with powdered monster remains and making sunlight filter through in a haze. 

As he nears the edge of the Roman base, he dodges legionnaires scrambling to dismantle their temporary structures. They are already breaking camp, hauling materials from armories and barracks away. Their movements throw dust and dirt into the air and further dilute the morning light. The orders of several centurions occasionally punctuate the silence. In their haste to follow them through, most campers fail to notice him. The few that are standing still enough to register his face only nod in acknowledgment. Jason nods back, feeling strange. He felt exposed, clothed in orange and wading through a sea of purple. Walking farther into the fort, towards the more permanent watchtowers, he revels in the cleaner air. With less deconstruction in the area, beams of sunlight are allowed to shine through, though several motes of dust still dance through the shafts. But the sun still shines. That’s how he finds her. 

One thing he believes will stay true regardless of the time passed, is that Reyna loves high places. She liked to be able to see the big picture, to be in a place above the rest of the world. That was part of the reason he loved taking her flying, sitting with her in the terraced Gardens of Bacchus, and watching her with Scipio. He liked knowing she could see everything from where she was, yet always chose to come back down to him. Of course, that’s also the reason he isn’t surprised to find her perched among the watchtowers. 

He doesn’t bother trying to get her attention. Their eyes meet for a brief, but intense moment, as if she was daring him to come up and talk to her. She certainly wasn’t coming down. Jason takes a deep breath and sends up a prayer to whatever diety’s (aside from Aphrodite’s: that felt wrong somehow) domain this was. It takes him all of five seconds during his wind-aided ascent to realize that he is not at all prepared for this conversation. Jason touches down behind her, finding her standing with her eyes fixed on Half-Blood Hill and the statue that now dominated it. Reyna turns slightly and gives him a mildly impressed once-over, as if she didn’t expect him to actually take up her earlier challenge. He clears his throat. “Admiring the view?”

She laughs without humor, not looking at him. “Not much to admire.” 

Jason smiled inwardly. She was never one to sugar coat anything. Reyna was right though, the field between them and the Hill is anything but scenic. Craters and smoke mar the small valley. In his opinion, however, he had a great view. Her shoulders shook lightly with her laugh, making her hair--loose this early in the morning--sway. She was out of her armor for once, clad in the jeans and T-shirt of an average camper instead. Outwardly, she looked relaxed, but he could tell she still had her guard up. The way her hands clutched the railing a little too tightly, the tension in her jaw, and the hardness in her eyes told him more than she could have with words. Which didn’t seem to be much at the moment. On a normal day, he would wrap his arms around her waist and she would settle back into him and they would watch the sunrise together. Jason wonders if he will ever watch the sunrise with her again. He pushes the thought from his mind. That was why he was here, right? To get that back? To get her back?

He attempts to compose himself as he joins her at the railing. “Thank you,” he begins. “For going to Split. Gods know that’s not how we planned on seeing the city.” He bites his lip and waits for her response. After a beat, he gets one.

“We didn’t plan any of this, did we?” She says evenly.

He tries not to be hurt by that. Her first line of defense had always been detached cruelty. If he could only get through that…

The next several moments are spent watching the campers below haul down buildings. Reyna’s eyes are scrutinizing, ready to bark an order should she see anyone out of line. The sight is achingly familiar, and Jason feels pride bloom in his chest. The Legion could be back in California by sundown. His earlier feeling is quickly replaced by fear. 

It’s all he can do to keep the panic out of his voice. “When do you leave?” he swallows thickly.

“I go back with the First and Second this afternoon. The rest follow tomorrow morning.” She pauses, then adds, “Why? Excited?” 

Jason sighs and ignores her last words. He has less time to apologize than he thought. Before he can decide to just come out with it, she surprises him by speaking again. 

“I assume you’re staying here?” Reyna gives him an imploring look, eyebrows slightly raised as if she weren’t all that interested. 

“I’ve thought about it,” he replies honestly. 

She nods. “You should. Don’t pretend like you haven’t already made up your mind.” 

Though she’s not facing him, he can hear the eyeroll in her voice. “I haven’t,” he insists.“It’s almost like you want me to stay here.”

“I think it would be best. Pontifex duties can be done remotely, and you seem to like it well enough here. Either way,” she breathed, “It’s your choice.” 

There goes his apology. He should’ve known she would go that route. Up until now, Jason had been able to assure himself that leaving her was not his fault. The gods had sent him to Camp Half-Blood, but if he decided to leave her now, when he had full control of whether or not to do so, there would be no doubt that he really had abandoned her. Jason hated himself for even considering it. Then again, she seemed to want him at a distance, (unbeknownst to Reyna, however, he had been inching his way across the railing until they were practically shoulder to shoulder. If she noticed, she didn’t let on.) on the other side of the country, to be precise. What if he was only hurting her more? 

She was right. This decision was his to make, but he needed some help. “It is,” he agrees. “But it’s yours, too. If you want me to stay, then just tell me. But if you want me to come with you, ask me and I will. Just please, don’t think that I don’t want to go with you.” 

He’s fully facing her now, and he can tell she’s making an effort not to turn. 

Reyna’s lips quirk up into a slight smile. “I would’ve thought you’d have more agency than that after all this.” The smile fades suddenly. “You belong here, Jason. They need you.”

“And you don’t?” he challenges. He doesn’t know if he wants her to answer that. 

“I managed eight months without you. I’d like to think so.” Though most of the bite is gone from her words. She finally turns to him, eyes glassy with what he realizes are unshed tears. “You should stay,” she whispers. She makes to turn away again. Jason doesn’t let her. 

He grabs her hand and pulls her to him. “I’m sorry that I hurt you.” His hand cups her cheek lest her tears spill over. “And I would stay. Except I don’t belong here.” He brushes a stray strand of hair back from her face. 

Reyna sighs and pulls herself away from him. “Yes you do. Please don’t fight me on this.” She moves back to the railing, knuckles once again white against the wood. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t,” Jason says, gently covering her hands with his own. “I usually lose.” That’s enough to coax a watery laugh out of her. “But I don’t want to lose this with you.” 

She looks up into his eyes and is taken aback by the sincerity she sees there. 

“And I’m sorry. It’s my fault I could lose you anyway.”

Reyna smiles. “It’s not your fault. And I’m still yours.” 

“I’m coming with you,” Jason decides, smiling. 

“I figured as much.” 

They both turn to the rising sun in front of them. There is a barren, smoking stretch of land to look past, yet that only made the scene beyond it all the more beautiful. Jason knows there will be struggles for them to get through, there is still a lot to fix. But something about the way the light hits her tells him it’s worth fighting for. 

So he wraps his arms around her waist and she settles back into him and they watch the sunrise together.


End file.
